1. Field of Invention
Methods include washing and de-watering toner particles using a horizontal filter press.
2. Description of Related Art
Various methods for production of toner result in formation of a slurry including toner particles dispersed in a solvent. At such point in production, it is necessary to de-water the slurry and/or or wash toner particles to obtain a usable toner. Various methods of de-watering and washing toner particles are known, including, for example, using vertical plate presses and centrifugation. However, these and other known methods are deficient, at least because the methods are not scalable to commercial manufacture, filter media are subjected to blinding, a toner cake cannot be quickly and easily discharged and resulting toner particles are degraded in morphology. These failings can present inefficiencies in manufacture, and can result in toner particles of deficient quality.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a method for de-watering and washing toner particles that does not present the above mentioned shortcomings.